Welcome To The Dogs By Ori Pet Portal!
This is your private site where you and I collaborate on creating your Perfect Pet Portrait. The possibilities are endless. This is the page where I explain how this all works.
Portrait Ingredient #1: Photos of your dog:
The more the merrier. Some of them give me ideas. Some of them give me insights to the dog’s expression and personality. Some of them show me better detail of certain features. I can work with as few as 1 photo, and as many as you want to send (Most people send between 4 and 8, many send as many as 20) – There is no wrong amount.
How do you choose which photos to send? I’ll give you a few examples below, but…. The most important thing is that some of the pictures that show your dog’s favorite expression. If there are pictures (even grainy, dark ones) that capture a special moment (your dog catching a treat, playing with their favorite toy, jumping for joy, rolling over, licking your face, etc), you should definitely include them.
The reference photo does not have to be ONLY of your dog.
You can see in the above example, I used one photo as the reference. Even when looking at them side by side, it’s hard to tell that the painting came from that photo: The painting is all about Emmy. I removed the human, the other dog, and of course made the day sunnier. Rotating the image 180 degrees was also done for 2 reasons:
1)The eye tends to scan an image from left to right…. So now Emmy’s face is the first thing you see.
2)Even people who have seen the original photo do not realize that that is the source of the painting.
Dark pictures are ok
The above painting of Zawbe was created from a single photo. I removed the kitchen…. So, you can see, you don’t need a fancy studio photograph with a professional backdrop. While the picture is a bit dark, I was able to build the missing detail.
Having multiple pictures of Zawbe’s head made it easy to figure out what detail to paint back in, and what those features look like.
Even small pictures are ok
The above painting of Angel was created from a single photo. While I recommend that you send photographs at high resolution (which gives me more detail to work from), even small photos are super important. The important thing is that the picture shows your pooch at their best.
Using multiple photographs (especially good for multiple pets)
The above 4 photos were chosen from 20 photos that were sent to me…. And then I combined them to make one painting that looks like the dogs all posed together.
The pictures you send do not have to be related to each other… They just have to be of your dog(s). The more pictures you send, the more options I have.
My process video shows you how I go from multiple pictures to one painting. I can take the expression from one, the pose from another, etc…
Portrait Ingredient #2: Tell Me About Your Dog:
There is a form for you to fill out, and it’s pretty simple.
Tell me your favorite activities. Any favorite or memorable stories of your pet.
For me, it was that time when my dog, Peanut, ran through the screened-in patio to “defend me” from my punching bag…. He was not supposed to cross the screen… but… he thought I was in trouble… So, he ran right through it, and despite being scared of my punching bag… he attacked it ferociously, biting the bottom of it, and shaking his head back and forth…. A hole formed, and sand came out…. I was thinking “Oh no! My new punching bag!” but… I couldn’t stop laughing, because here was my buddy, defending me…. Even though, I clearly didn’t really need saving. He tore the canvas piece by piece until there was nothing left. Peanut was dangling from the chain which hung from the tree. His gums were bleeding, so I told him to stop. I patted him on the head, and we walked inside to celebrate with a few doggie treats.”
There is a checkbox for “Artist’s Choice” – This means that you want to send me the photos, and see what I come up with.
Artist’s Choice is the most popular choice for most of my patrons. It makes things as simple as they can be. I experiment with different looks and layouts until I come up with what works best from the pictures you’ve sent me.
Even if you choose Artist’s Choice, you should still tell me about your dog’s personality, favorite moments, etc… This will allow me to focus on your favorite things about your dog.
The picture below was created from 4 photos, which I selected out of about 20 photos that were sent to me. This is an artist’s choice painting. The Patron did not know what they wanted, they just wanted a portrait of their 3 dogs…. And there was red furniture to match.
Tell me if there’s a particular color that you’d like. Or if there’s any furniture that that painting has to match, feel free to include a photo of your room, or the specific piece of furniture.
If there’s something specific the dog should be doing, you can tell me on this form. The painting below is an example of knowing specifically what you’d like:
“My dog is really bossy. She orders me around ‘Feed me. Let’s play, now! Time for a walk!’ I’d like to see her painted as a military general… Like a real military portrait, so that it’s a portrait of her and a play on how bossy she is.”
Portrait Ingredient #3: Approval or Changes
You will get notification email when a new proof has been added to your portal. The email will include the link to that page.
Each proof will have a comment section below it, so you can approve, or leave changes. It’s a really easy process… Just like having a conversation.
Once you approve the painting, you’ll be emailed a tracking number as your Canvas gets shipped to you.